Star Trek: The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward

January 1, 2014

Book 1 started   Book 1 read

Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward - Book 5 in Star Trek: The Fall
published by Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster), 2013

This book is the conclusion of one of the better Star Trek: TNG series written since the release of the movie Nemesis was released so many years ago.  To a large degree, it also feels like the conclusion of a major story arc that began with the final Borg invasion of the Federation, continued with the Reconstruction, the rise of the Typhon Pact and then the events in this series leading to the confrontations between the interim president, Ishan Anjar and his supporters and the more traditional elements of Starfleet.

My expectations were high for this book since each book in the series was better than the one before.  In some ways this one didn’t disappoint, but in some ways it did. 

The book is well-written.  It is fast paced and tight.  There is little extraneous dialogue or backstory thrown in as filler.  Each character has a distinct voice that is easily recognizable as the characters we all know and care for – which is often no easy task in a shared universe such as this one. 

The primary subplot revolves around Beverly Crusher and she just didn’t come across strong enough as a character to carry it.  There is a scene with Starfleet Special Forces opponents against Beverly and her team where they attack Tom Riker assuming he is in charge; this is fairly indicative of their entire time on the planet Jevalan.

Picard’s portion of the story is up to its usual quality with the crew if the Enterprise E facing insurmountable odds and squeezing out a win in the final seconds.

The epilogue opened up the possibility for new Star Trek storylines that move away from the politics heavy ones we’ve seen for the past few years and back to ones with an emphasis on exploration.  It also suggests openings for entire new crews that can be introduced and new directions the franchise can be taken.  Time will tell, but I’m looking forward to what’s in store.

3.5 stars